LAHORE: Cinema lovers across the city have been left disappointed with the country’s film industry as only two Punjabi films will be up for showing on the occasion of Eidul Azha.
Movie aficionados criticised local film directors and producers for falsely claiming that Lollywood had seen a revival when but they (producers) had yet again failed to provide cinematic entertainment for people. Many people openly expressed their disappointment and stated that they would instead prefer to watch movies on cable TV at home.
Lahore, once considered the heart of Pakistan’s film industry, was today witnessing the slow decay of Lollywood.
Limited release: The Pakistani offerings, meanwhile, – Numberdarni and Ilyasa Gujjar -are both Punjabi films and would be released only in selected cinemas in Punjab. An Urdu film titled Bhai Log was expected to release on Eid but the director and producer of the film have not brought it in the cinema.
Ilyasa Gujjar would be shown in Prince Cinema and Numberdarni would be shown in Shabistan Cinema.
Guzaarish: However, there is some entertainment respite for citizens coming from across the border, as Indian movie Guzaarish – starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – would be shown in Gulistan Cinema and in DHA Cinema on the third day of Eid.
Guzaarish, another directorial venture by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, would be largely preferred by Lahoris over Lollywood’s offerings anyways. This optimism is also shared by cinema owners as they were hopeful that the movie would yield great business on Eid.
Raza Haider, a movie lover, said that Lollywood was still producing movies based on the stereotypical rural culture and these would never gain the popularity amongst the people living in Pakistan’s urban centres. Cinema owners, meanwhile, claimed said that they were showing Indian movies as a last resort because the local film industry continued to produce movies severely lacking in quality content.
A DHA cinema official said that the response to Indian movies had always been fantastic and the upcoming movie Guzaarish was expected to top the box office.
The Hrithik-Aishwarya starrer would be shown on Nov 19, he added. Film critics forecast that Numberdarni and Ilyasa Gujjar would fail at the box office as they had nothing new to offer. The old faces of the industry would also be another reason of the movie’s failure as Numberdarni had Meera, Nargis, Shaan, and Saud in the cast of the film. Similarly, Ilyasa Gujjar, directed by Pervaiz Rana, had Shaan and Saima performing the main roles.
Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association Chairman Zoraiz Lashari said that Indian films did great business as compared to Pakistani films and thus, there was a need for the government to allow Indian film to be freely shown in the country’s cinemas as this step would help the local film industry survive.
